What if?
by saoirse
Summary: What would things have been like had Neo and Trinity known each other before the events of the Matrix?
1. Memories

Disclaimer: Seriously do you think I own these? If you do then I think that the wheel is turning but the hamsters dead.  
  
A/N: This is an AU fic. kinda. Written to try and help me get back into writing things without song lyrics in order to finish 'Freedom' sometime this millennium. Would appreciate any comments, good, bad or indifferent. Just tell me your opinion on the story.  
  
Anything in under ~~~~~~~~~~~~ is a glimpse into the past. ********** indicates a time change in the story. I.e. skipping a couple of scenes in the film.  
  
What if......? by saoirse Chapter 1 - Memories  
  
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"I think we shouldn't see each other any more."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"C'mon Michelle. You never pay any attention to anything nowadays except your computer. Whatever you're looking for on-line is something I can't compete with, not anymore," he sighed. "I don't think I want to."  
  
Michelle shook her head. "Please...."  
  
"Goodbye Michelle. Maybe in another place we would've worked. But not here, not now." He squeezed her hand slightly, stood up and left the diner.  
  
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Trinity awoke with a start. It had been nine years but she could still remember every word, every gesture. She had never blamed anyone for their break up but herself. She had been so obsessed with finding Morpheus that she had stopped paying attention to the world around her. She was freed a few weeks later and, while she had blocked out most of her memories from that life, this one refused to be wiped.  
  
And then Morpheus had shown him to her. The guy he was so sure was the One. Not that there hadn't been others but Morpheus was so convinced of this one. So sure. Trinity had nearly gagged when she saw him. She tried to convince herself that it wasn't but it was no good. Nine years had done little to change him. He was still the same Thomas that had sat with her in that diner all those years ago.  
  
She had changed a bit though. Her hair was a lot shorter than the way she had worn it before. It was its natural black instead of the light brown she had dyed it. She also had an air of confidence now that she never had in her previous life. It came with knowing she was free. 


	2. First' Contact

Disclaimer: See Part 1.  
  
What if.....? Chapter 2 - 'First' contact  
  
Trinity had told Morpheus of the history she had had with Thomas. They had decided not to tell the rest of the crew. Trinity didn't want it to become a subject for gossip and she knew that people would always watch them, wonder if they would get together. Cypher had picked up on something though in the way Trinity watched Neo. He never guessed the real reason she was always watching but he thought he knew.  
  
When Morpheus had told her that she would be their first contact person with Neo, she could hardly believe it. She had fought with him, told him that she thought it was a bad idea. What if he recognised her? Morpheus had not seen a problem with that and insisted that Trinity do this.  
  
So here she was, standing in a terrible night-club, watching him from a safe distance. Taking a deep breath she walked towards him.  
  
"Hello Neo."  
  
"How do you know that name?" His back was still turned to her.  
  
"I know a lot about you." 'More than you could guess'  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
'There's a question. Who am I? The person you knew or someone different.' Trinity couldn't honestly answer that question the way it was given so she replied the only way she could. "My name is Trinity."  
  
"Trinity...The Trinity? The one that cracked the IRS-dbase?"  
  
"That was a long time ago." 'Nine years.'  
  
"Jesus."  
  
"What?" 'Oh God, he knows. He's somehow recognised me!'  
  
"I umm...I just thought you were a guy."  
  
Trinity smiled slightly. 'Defiantly not.' "Most guys do."  
  
"That was you on my computer. How did you do that?"  
  
****  
  
The speech that she had prepared came out sounding spontaneous but her mind could barely focus on it when she was so close to Neo. Trinity left, knowing that Neo's eyes were still on her. She walked straight out the door and took out her phone. "Tank I need an exit."  
  
"One ready. Same place you came in."  
  
She shut the phone and made her way to the exit.  
  
When she woke in the real world she saw Tank standing over her. "So did he take the bait?" He was excited at the thought that Neo could be the One and wanted to make sure that they got him.  
  
"Yeah he took it."  
  
"You ok?"  
  
"Of course." 


	3. Knowing

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
What if....? Chapter 3 - Knowing  
  
Freeing Neo was a task in itself. When Trinity saw the agents taking him out of his work building she thought for sure that they had lost him. It seemed, though, that the agents just wanted to bug him. They had no idea that Morpheus thought he was the One.  
  
In the car with him, Trinity had deliberately softened her voice to him. He was scared, that much was obvious, but he was also unsure of why all this was happening. He needed a soft guiding hand rather than Switch's wake up call to reality.  
  
So now here he was on the Neb. He seemed so confused and unsure about everything in this world. She wanted to tell him the truth but she couldn't bring herself to. She thought that he wouldn't understand why she had done it. It would make living and working on a small ship with him almost unbearable.  
  
****  
  
"Oh God!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I used to eat there. Really good noodles."  
  
Trinity smiled slightly. Not only at his wonder at his first trip back into the Matrix but also at the fact that she remembered sitting eating noodles with him in that place.  
  
****  
  
"Look into his eyes, those big pretty eyes and tell me. Yes or no?"  
  
Trinity looked up. He was looking at her and he knew too well what was going to happen. He didn't seem scared though, just resigned to his fate. Her mind flickered to what the Oracle had told her only weeks after she had last seen Thomas Anderson.  
  
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"So you're Trinity?" The woman smiled. "I bet you have a lot of questions but I don't think you'll ask the right one so I'll just come out and tell you why you're here."  
  
Trinity just nodded. She had been silent ever since they had been sent in.  
  
"Not the talkative type then, are you? Doesn't matter. Maybe you just know there's a time for words and a time for actions. Tell me, did you love the man who broke up with you a couple of months ago?"  
  
Trinity could hardly believe she knew about that. "I don't know."  
  
A little smile played on the corners of the older woman's lips. "Don't worry about it honey. You'll fall in love. In the real world, where it counts." The oracle stubbed out her cigarette and looked at the surprised girl. "This man you'll love will be someone you know from before and he'll be the One."  
  
"The one for me? Forever?"  
  
The oracle smiled at the misinterpretation. "Not just the one for you honey. But the One."  
  
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She held Neo's gaze and realised the undeniable truth. "Yes," she whispered the word. 'God yes!'  
  
****  
  
She was pulled out and so was Neo. Somehow Tank had survived Cypher's attack and had killed him. They lay the bodies of their crew-members along one wall with a blanket over them. One body was placed away from the others and the only reason that a blanket was placed over it was because no-one could bear to look at the deceiving face. 


	4. Rescue

Disclaimer: See part 1.  
  
What if....? Chapter 4 - Rescue  
  
When Neo announced he was going in, Trinity's heart nearly stopped. He couldn't, not when they had risked everything and Morpheus had sacrificed his life in order to get him out. She tried to tell him but he wouldn't listen.  
  
"I'm not the One Trinity. The Oracle hit me with that too."  
  
His announcement stunned her more than anything ever could. He had to be. What she was feeling couldn't be her imagination. Everything pointed to him being the One. Her refusal to accept what he had said seemed to surprise him.  
  
"Why?" He was searching her eyes, her face for a hint as to why she believed. He couldn't see it though, the emotions that she had so carefully hidden.  
  
"I'm going with you."  
  
"No you're not." He couldn't explain his reaction. He had never been the macho kind of guy but something about her....he might be willing to risk his life but he couldn't let her risk hers for him again.  
  
"No? Let me tell you what I believe. I believe Morpheus means more to me than he does to you. I believe that if you are serious about this you are going to need my help. And since I am the ranking officer on this ship, I believe that if you don't like it you can go to hell. Because you aren't going anywhere else."  
  
****  
  
She had to admit that she was impressed by him. He had been free only a few short weeks, most of which was spent rebuilding his muscles, and here he was doing something that no-one else would ever have tried to do. She could barely believe it when she saw the two men hanging from the helicopter. She knew she had to get them to safety before she lost control. It didn't matter to her that she might not have time to get out herself. Morpheus and Neo were all that mattered.  
  
"Trinity!" Neo saw the helicopter plummet towards the building. He looked at the rope that was still attached to him and wrapped it around his arm. He prayed that she had gotten to the other end of it. He fell on his back and was dragged along the roof-top as he realised that it was the helicopter that was pulling him, not the woman he wanted to save.  
  
He reached the edge of the roof and was pulled into a standing position. He looked down to see Trinity smash into the building that he was standing on. 'She made it!' He was more relieved then he thought he would be. As soon as the explosion had subsided, he began pulling her up. When she reached the roof she stumbled slightly and he grabbed her before she could fall. For a split second there was only the two of them. Neo gazed at her face, her eyes. He wanted to kiss her but something stopped him moving. He wanted to stay this way forever, the two of the holding each other. The moment was broken though by Morpheus' voice.  
  
"Do you believe it now Trinity?"  
  
Neo couldn't let her answer. He knew by the look she had given him that she did believe. He couldn't let her continue a lie. The argument he put up against Morpheus was pointless though. 


	5. The Truth

Disclaimer: See Part 1.  
  
What if....? Chapter 5 - The Truth  
  
As they stood in the subway, waiting for the phone to ring, Trinity tried to tell Neo what she knew and felt. Something stopped her though and she used his momentary distraction at the passing train to grab the phone. Her eyes locked with Smith's just as she was pulled out.  
  
****  
  
Facing Smith in the subway was like hell for Neo. He knew that he had to get out of there soon before he was killed. Watching Smith getting hit by the train gave him a moment of satisfaction. It was short-lived though as the train ground to a halt and Smith stepped out of the carriage. Taking Cypher's advice, Neo ran his ass off.  
  
He followed Tank's directions to the hotel fire escape before abandoning the phone. He ran through the building towards the ringing phone. He kicked open the door to Room 303 and felt it.  
  
The slight shock of something entering his body. His fingers automatically went to his chest. When he pulled them away he noticed the blood on them. It reminded him too vividly of when he had failed the jump program. "The body cannot exist without the mind" Morpheus had said. The second bullet made him stumble back a little. He didn't really feel the others at all. He could only feel his body going cold as his blood seeped out onto the old hotel's corridor.  
  
Trinity looked in shock at the monitors while they flat lined. He couldn't be dead. Summoning everything she had in her she bent down over his still form and whispered everything she had wanted to tell him since she had seen him in that club. She kissed his lips gently and was shocked when he gasped for breath.  
  
"Now get up!"  
  
She didn't see him fight and destroy Smith but she didn't need to see that to know that he was the One. The sentinels were coming closer and she knew that they'd be killed unless the EMP was used now.  
  
"NEO!"  
  
She threw herself over his body as the EMP surged. When it had finished, she gingerly lifted herself off him and absently ran her hand over his cheek. She wondered had he heard everything she had said. He lifted his hand up to hold her neck and kissed her. She knew that he had heard.  
  
****  
  
Neo sat alone in his room thinking. The events of the day weighed heavy on his mind. He was so lost in his thoughts that he never heard the first knock at his door. The second though was too loud for anyone to ignore. "Yeah, come in."  
  
The door opened and Trinity was standing there. "I just wanted to check that you were ok."  
  
"I'm fine Michelle, and you?" Neo's voice was laced with sarcasm, and it didn't fail to affect Trinity.  
  
"Michelle?" 'Oh God he knows.' Trinity thought. 'How? When?' She didn't know but she used the only tactic that she could think of, feign ignorance.  
  
"Don't bullshit me; I can't handle it right now. You know damn well who I mean."  
  
The look in Neo's eyes warned Trinity that one wrong move now could destroy whatever hope she held for a relationship.  
  
"How did you know? When?"  
  
"It was the kiss. After I was pulled out. Everyone kisses different to someone else. Let's just say that it brought back memories. But what I want to know is why you never told me."  
  
"I wanted to tell you since we unplugged you but something held me back. I guess I didn't know how you'd react."  
  
Neo nodded. "Good answer but not the one I was looking for. I meant why you never told me about your double life while we were together."  
  
"You didn't tell me about yours."  
  
"True."  
  
Trinity sighed. She needed to tell him. She sat down on the bed he had vacated and leaned her back against the wall. Closing her eyes, she began to talk. "I had already been hacking about a year before I met you. I had been searching for Morpheus since about the same time. I didn't do much for the first few weeks we were together. You kinda pulled me back into reality. Well what we thought was reality. But then...one of the other hackers made a bet with me and I couldn't resist." She paused for a moment, realising that it had been this that had ultimately destroyed their relationship.  
  
"Bet you what?" Neo asked gently. Trinity felt the bed shift slightly under her as he settled himself beside her.  
  
"Bet me that I couldn't crack the IRS-dbase. That's where I was all those times I canceled on you."  
  
"I did wonder. But hey, you got it in the end."  
  
"Yeah two days after we broke up and mainly coz I spent those entire two days trying. Morpheus found me about a month later and I was freed."  
  
"I did wonder why I never saw you around."  
  
Trinity smiled at Neo's obvious attempt to lighten the mood.  
  
"Nine years went past and I admit I didn't think about my former life too much but then Morpheus announced that he had found someone he thought could be the One."  
  
"Me."  
  
"Yes. The first time I saw you on the computer screen, I nearly passed out. I had known you liked computers but I had never thought that you lived another life within them. I told Morpheus about us, but no-one else. We made contact with you after watching you a while. You know the story from there." Trinity opened her eyes and sighed.  
  
"I always wondered why you seemed so familiar. There was something about you. I could never quite place it though."  
  
"Now you know."  
  
Neo just nodded.  
  
"Neo...back then you said something...you said that maybe in another place we'd work. Do you think that we could? Work that is?"  
  
Neo turned his head and looked her in the eyes. Her voice had been its usual strength but there was vulnerability in her face. He loved her. He had back when they were in the Matrix, even though she was never there, and he would now. No questions asked. He'd make this work.  
  
"Hell yeah. Hell yeah."  
  
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A/N: So there you have it. I know some of the chapters were short but that's the only way it would let me post it (don't ask, my computer is having one of its fits). Once again please R&R. 


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